In February of 2014 I was fortunate enough to join the hospital I work for, Castle Medical Center, on a medical mission trip to Papua New Guinea.
For the past 4-5 years, Castle Medical Center has been sending a small group to a town called Porgera, which is in the western highlands of Papua New Guinea, quite literally at the end of the road. It takes roughly three days of travel to get there, with one long grueling 7 hour ride over a bumpy treacherous road that shakes your body to pieces. Once there you are treated to a beautiful valley where the temperature is cool and life slows down. Our work centered around Porgera hospital, a small hospital serving the valley and surrounding areas run by mission doctors. We brought medical supplies and equipment, and our nurses and doctors assisted throughout the hospital as needed. We also ran vision clinics the entire time we were there, as there is no easy access to vision care for the people of Porgera. With hundreds of donated glasses and purchased reading/prescription glasses, we were able to see over 500 patients during our trip. The hats and blankets that you see in the photos and video were hand knit and donated from all around the world for us to give to the people in Porgera.
The whole trip was such a rewarding experience for everyone involved, and I was so happy to be able to capture some of it on camera. Most of the photos below are from the hospital, a school we stopped by on our drive, and walking around the town where we stayed.
Below is a short video I put together when I got back from footage I captured during the trip.
